PRIDE veteran James Lee has reportedly pulled out of his UFC 88 fight vs. Tim Boetsch, according to MMAjunkie.com.

While the UFC has yet to make an official announcement, MMA Junkie indicated that Lee was scratched from the card last week after sustaining an arm injury.

A replacement also apparently already has been secured in former BodogFIGHT veteran Mike Patt. Patt is a UFC newcomer who likely earned a shot to debut for the promotion after having won seven of his past eight fights.

UFC 88 is scheduled to take place on Sept. 6 in Atlanta, GA at the Phillips Arena and will be headlined by a light heavyweight bout between former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell and the heavyweight winner from season two of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Rashad Evans.

Rumors have swept through the Internet in recent days that claimed a UFC lightweight bout between Kenny Florian and Joe Stevenson was on tap for a show later this year.

While bout agreements have yet to be signed, MMAWeekly.com reports that its sources have informed the site that both Florian and Stevenson have verbally agreed to the bout.

The proposed Florian vs. Stevenson matchup seems destined to be held on Nov. 15 during a yet-to-be announced UFC event expected to be titled “UFC 91” that will likely take place at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon.

In addition to being top lightweight title contenders, both Florian and Stevenson are alumni of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality television series on Spike TV.

Florian competed as a middleweight during the first season of TUF and made it to the finals against tournament winner Diego Sanchez. Since losing to Sanchez, Florian has gone on to win eight of nine fights in the UFC and most recently defeated Roger Huerta via unanimous decision at UFC 87 on Aug, 9.

Stevenson won the welterweight tournament for the second season of TUF, defeating Luke Cummo in the finals via unanimous decision.  He has a lifetime record of 6-2 in the UFC and is 29-8 overall. At UFC 86 in July, Stevenson rebounded from a January loss against B.J. Penn for the then-vacant UFC lightweight title when he submitted American Top Team’s Gleison Tibau in the second round.

Strikeforce has announced that former UFC light heavyweight and middleweight competitor Terry Martin will debut for the San Jose-based promotion on Sept. 20 during its second-ever show at the famed Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Martin’s opponent will be up-and-coming 24-year old middleweight prospect Cory Devela.

Martin is 17-5, according to Sherdog’s fight finder, and most recently competed during Affliction’s inaugural show on July 19 in Anaheim, Calif. Competing against former UFC light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort during Belfort’s middleweight debut, Martin was knocked out at 3:12 of round 2.

A month prior, Martin was declared a winner via disqualification against Daiju Takase due to low blows during Adrenaline MMA’s first-ever show on June 14.

While in the UFC, Martin compiled a 2-4 record with victories over Jorge Rivera and Ivan Salaverry and notable losses to Chris Leben and James Irvin.

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Officials with the Lemoore, California-based Palace Fighting Championship promotion have formally announced the signings of 18 new fighters to its roster. The new fighters include former IFL veterans Alex Schoenauer and John Gunderson as well former UFC veterans Gabe Ruediger, Lodune Sincaid, and Jason Von Flue.

The PFC started in the wake of Zuffa’s acquisition of World Extreme Cagefighting. After the WEC was acquired and moved its operations to Las Vegas, there was a void at the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino, where the WEC used to run shows on a regular basis. The PFC now runs shows in the WEC’s absence and is considered one of the top regional promotions in the country.

A list of the fighters added to the PFC roster are listed below. Many of them after expected to debut at PFC 11 on Nov. 20. The promotion’s next show, PFC 10, is scheduled for Sept. 26 and will feature a welterweight battle between Phil Baroni and Olaf Alfonso.

List of New PFC fighters in alphabetical order:

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Bryan Alvarez of Figure 4 Online reported during the site’s daily update on Tuesday that the UFC appears likely to return to Montreal at the Bell Centre on Dec. 5 with current UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre a possible headliner.

Alvarez adds that the site will have more news on the situation tomorrow, as the recent news has not yet been made official by the UFC.

St. Pierre has stated in recent radio interviews that he does not intend to return until early-2009 after fighting frequently the past 12 months. However, if UFC officials want to do a card in Montreal in early December and they want St. Pierre on it, they could try to convince him to take a fight on that date.

The news of a possible Dec. 5 is intriguing, as the UFC has shows planned for November and on Dec. 27.

UFC officials have been rumored to be working on a possible main event involving Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva for a Nov. show that could take place in Portland, Ore. It should be noted that the availability for both fighters is still uncertain. Jackson has legal issues that must be addressed with and Silva specifically requested that the UFC not schedule him for a fight before December.

Nothing has been announced officially for the Dec. 27 show, which tentatively planned to take place in Las Vegas. However, it is expected that UFC interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will take on Frank Mir. Chuck Liddell could also be in action if he’s able to defeat Rashad Evans next month and does so without sustaining a serious injury. It’s unclear whether Liddell would fight UFC heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin or if he would be matched up against current UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva.

Update: The report has been removed from the website and no retraction has been issued. BloodyElbow.com states that it contacted Dave Meltzer, who indicated their reporting was based on a local report in Montreal and that they were unable to confirm it.

MMAWeekly.com is reporting that Canadian middleweight Jason “Dooms” Day has withdrawn from his scheduled September 6th bout with Jason “The Punisher” Lambert. According to the report, Day suffered an elbow and biceps injury that will require him to undergo a MRI and keep him out of the fight.

Sherdog.com is now reporting that Day’s replacement will be fellow Canadian Jason “The Athlete” MacDonald.

MacDonald, a native of Pictou County, Nova Scotia, possesses a UFC record of 4-3 with victories over Ed Herman, Chris Leben, Rory Singer, and Joe Doerksen. MacDonald’s most recent outing came at UFC 87: Seek and Destroy where he fell victim to the ground game of Demian Maia after three grueling rounds.

Jason Lambert is looking to test his hand at 185 pounds after spending the majority of his career in the light heavyweight division. Lambert has gone 4-3 in the UFC with victories over Renato “Babalu” Sobral, Branden Lee Hinkle, Terry Martin, and Rob MacDonald.

UFC 88: Breakthrough is scheduled for Saturday, September 6, 2008 at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. The card will be headlined by a light heavyweight bout featuring former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell and Rashad Evans.

Former NCAA champion Mark Munoz will not be able to fight as previously scheduled during the WEC’s next scheduled show on Wednesday, Sept. 10 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla.

The news was revealed earlier in a report by MMAWeekly.com.

According to MMA Weekly, the former Oklahoma State competitor if off the card vs. Steve Steinbeiss due to an undisclosed injury.

Steinbess, who trains out of Trevor and Todd Lally’s Arizona Combat Sports, could remain on the card against a new opponent.

The WEC’s Sept. 10 event, to be televised on VERSUS starting at 9 p.m. ET, will feature two title fights involving WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber taking on Mike Thomas Brown and WEC middleweight champion Paulo Filho squaring off against Chael Sonnen. Former NCAA champions Jake Rosholt and Johny Hendricks are scheduled to make their debuts as well.

SI.com, courtesy of Spike TV, has revealed the names of the 32 fighters invited to Las Vegas by the UFC to compete for the 16 final spots on the eighth season of the hit reality television show “The Ultimate Fighter.”

Last season saw 32 middleweights compete for the right to become the next “Ultimate Fighter” but this year the season has been broken down into two weight classes: light heavyweight and lightweight with 16 fighters in each weight class once again going through a qualifying round of fights to earn a spot in the final eight and the opportunity to move into the TUF mansion.

Serving as the coaches for TUF 8 will be current UFC interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and former champion and current number one contender Frank Mir.

The show will premiere on Wednesday, Sept. 17 at 11:00 p.m. ET immediately following UFC Fight Night 15 from Omaha, Nebraska.

The full cast of 32 with our notes is available after the jump.

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John Pollock of The Fight Network is reporting that EliteXC has canceled a planned Sept. 20 event titled “Showdown” to take place at “The Pit” in Albuquerque, N.M.

No details for the cancellation have been provided but the promotion has struggled in the last week to put together a fight that could headline a show set to take place in an 18,000 seat arena.

It is believed that matchmakers wanted to add EliteXC welterweight champion Jake Shields for a featured match on the show. However, complications were encountered when John Alessio, his proposed opponent, recently revealed to MMAjunkie.com that he would not be ready for the Sept. 20 show.

With only slightly more than 30 days until the event, EliteXC had yet to officially announce a single fight for the show. The promotion was also planning to run an extremely ambitious schedule, with cards still scheduled to take place on Sept. 26 (ShoXC), Oct. 4 (CBS) and a yet-to-be announced ShoXC event in October.

Proposed bouts for the ill-fated show included Wilson Reis vs. Bao Quach for the vacant EliteXC 140 lbs. title; Paul Daley vs. Lyman Good; and Cris Cyborg vs. Yoko Takahasi. Dave Herman, Alberto Crane, Joey Villasenor, and Michelle Watterson were also expected to fight on the card in separate bouts. It’s possible that EliteXC will now look to book them for their other shows set to take place in September and October.

Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio informed MMAWeekly.com on Thursday that former UFC light heavyweight champion and current middleweight competitor Vitor Belfort has pulled out of his previously scheduled Oct. 11 bout against Matt Lindland due to a hand injury.

Belfort is the second top fighter to pull off of “Day of Reckoning” due to a hand injury, as WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko was unable to move forward on a possible title defense against Andrei Arlovski due to a lingering hand injury of his own.

As of now, Lindland is still believed to be on the card but without an opponent. There has been some speculation that EliteXC welterweight champion Jake Shields has been offered an opportunity to fight Lindland on the show. While Atencio expressed to MMA Weekly that Affliction has admiration for his ability, he was quick to point out that Shields is currently under contract to another organization.

It should be note that Affliction did pursue one other fighter under contract to EliteXC. Sources informed FiveOuncesOfPain.com earlier this week that Affliction officials had been interested in putting together a featherweight bout at “Day of Reckoning” between Mark Hominick and Bao Quach.

It was determined that Quach’s limited non-exclusive would prevent him from competing on the Affliction show and a 140 lbs. title match between him and Wilson Reis on Sept. 20 was finalized on Thursday.

“Day of Reckoning” is scheduled to be headlined by a battle of former UFC heavyweight champions Arlovski and Josh Barnett fighting for a title shot against Emelianenko. Heavyweight bouts between Ben Rothwell vs. Pedro Rizzo and Paul Buentello vs. Roy Nelson are expected as well a light heavyweight contest between Vladimir Matyushenko and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.

Los Angeles-based Elite Xtreme Combat will introduce its 140 lbs. title on Sept. 20 in Albuquerque, N.M. at “The Pit” when Wilson Reis and Bao Quach face each other for the vacant championship.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com spoke with EliteXC officials earlier in the week about the possibility of the matchup being finalized by week’s end. EliteXC has yet to officially announce the match but Reis informed his no Gi jiu-jitsu class at Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu United in Jenkintown, PA on Thursday night that the fight had been finalized earlier in the day.

Reis improved his record to 5-0 following a unanimous decision victory over Bryan Caraway during the SHOWTIME portion of EliteXC’s “Unfinished Business” on July 26. The 23-year renowned jiu-jitsu black belt is considered one of the top competitive grapplers in the world.

He’ll be facing an opponent in Quach, who improved his winning streak to nine following his unanimous decision victory against Mark Oshiro during ICON Sport’s “Hard Times” event on August 2. Originally known for being primarily a ground fighter, Quach’s standup has become highly respected under the tutelage of Colin Oyama.

EliteXC’s “Showdown” on Sept. 20 will be broadcast on SHOWTIME and is also expected to feature Joey Villasenor, Dave Herman, and Cristiane Cyborg against opponents yet to be determined. Five Ounces of Pain also broke the news on Tuesday that Paul Daley will be in action on the show in a bout against undefeated Team Tiger Schulmann welterweight prospect Lyman Good.

San Jose-based MMA promotion Strikeforce issued a press release Thursday evening confirming that it will be debuting in Denver, Colo. at the Broomfield Center on Oct. 3.

The release also announced a middleweight matchup between Frank Trigg and Falaniko Vitale. While Strikeforce has officially announced the matchup, Trigg himself has yet to confirm it.

When contacted by FiveOuncesOfPain.com via e-mail on Wednesday, Trigg said he had not signed with the promotion and that he would not make any decisions about his next fight until after facing Makoto Takimoto at Sengoku 4 on Aug. 2.

According to MMAjunkie.com, Trigg said he plans to compete for Strikeforce on Oct. 3 but that he doesn’t want to sign a contract and fully commit and run the risk of not being able to fight. He indicated that he also wants to remain focused on Takimoto.

The release also confirmed a previously leaked matchup between Duane “Bang” Ludwig and Sammy “The Squeeze” Morgan with welterweights Phil Baroni and Pete Spratt announced to be in action as well.

Despite reports to the contrary, a EliteXC welterweight title defense by Jake Shields against former UFC and WEC veteran John Alessio to take place on Sept. 20 in Albuquerque, N.M. is not a done deal.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com learned of this development after contacting Jack Shields, Jake Shields’ father and manager.

According to Jack Shields, his son has received an offer from EliteXC to fight Alessio but that another organization has offered Shields an opportunity to fight a “top five” middleweight on their show this fall.

The feeling is that a fight with Alessio will be available at a later date now that he is a part of the EliteXC roster while the shot at the unnamed middleweight will not. The elder Shields indicated that whether or not Shields can accept the fight will come down to whether the two promotions can reach an agreement.

Ben Rothwell has confirmed rumored reports that he will be fighting Pedro Rizzo during Affliction’s “Day of Reckoning” pay-per-view event on Oct. 11 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

Rothwell revealed the fight to CagePotato.com earlier today.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com spoke with Rothwell’s manager, Monte Cox, last week and Cox indicated that Rothwell was not expected to be involved with the second Affliction event. However, Rothwell indicated that there was a change of plans.

“Monte turned down their original offer for this fight, so that’s why he said none of his guys would be fighting on the show,” Cage Potato quotes Rothwell as saying. “Then they came back with another offer that was better, so we agreed to it.”

The wording of Rothwell’s statement has led some to believe that he had to accept a cut in pay from the $200,000 salary he received for Affliction: Banned on July 19 but that has not been confirmed.

Rothwell originally was announced as having signed a three-fight contract with the promotion so for him to have to sign a second agreement when he has an existing salary schedule suggests that a change of some kind has occurred.

The Rothwell vs. Rizzo heavyweight title joins a lineup already set to feature bouts between Andrei Arlovski vs. Josh Barnett, Vitor Belfort vs. Matt Lindland, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Vladimir Matyushenko, Paul Buentello vs. Roy Nelson, Mike Pyle vs. Jason High, and Chris Horodecki vs. TBA.

With Elite Xtreme Combat expected to promote four shows between Sept. 20 and Oct. 20, it has had the promotion’s fight team working overtime coming up with potential matchups as well as signing new fighters to contracts in order to fill up the myriad bout slots.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com has learned that one new fighter about to sign with the promotion is undefeated welterweight prospect Lyman Good of Team Tiger Schulmann’s in New Jersey.

Officials with Team Tiger Schulmann contacted FiveOuncesOfPain.com to inform us that Good has been offered a six fight contract by EliteXC and is expected to sign it by week’s end.

Good, 7-0, according to Sherdog’s fight finder, is expected to make his debut for the promotion on Sept. 20 at “The Pit” in Albuquerque, N.M. The proposed opponent for his debut is UK Muay Thai specialist Paul “Semtex” Daley. While EliteXC has yet to announce the bout officially, Daley gave strong hints that Good would be his opponent during a recent interview with MMAWeekly.com.

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In a new interview with MMAWeekly.com, welterweight Paul Daley has revealed he will return to the United States and compete for EliteXC during the promotion’s Sept. 20 event in Albuquerque, N.M. The event will be televised on SHOWTIME.

“I will be fighting Sept. 20 in New Mexico, most likely against an undefeated ex-IFL fighter who cannot be named yet,” Daley is quoted as telling MMA Weekly. “I’m really looking forward to it.”

While FiveOuncesOfPain.com has yet to receive official confirmation, we have strong reason to believe that the fighter best fitting Daley’s description is top-level East Coast welterweight prospect Lyman Good.

Good trains out of Tiger Schulmann’s MMA and is a perfect 7-0, according to Sherdog’s fight finder. He competed for the IFL during the undercard of its team semifinals in August of 2007, defeating Mike Dolce from the seventh season of “The Ultimate Fighter” via unanimous decision.

However, it should be noted that as this article went to press, Good was not under contract to ProElite.

Soon after defeating Sammy Morgan during a ShoXC event on Jan. 25, Daley abruptly announced his retirement and stated his intention of fighting one final bout. He had been tentatively scheduled to fight during the undercard of Strikeforce and EliteXC’s co-promotion on March 29 that featured Cung Le vs. Frank Shamrock, but Daley was pulled off the card following his retirement proclamation.

Daley had held titles with Cage Rage, FX-3, and King of the Ring but relinquished all of them at the time of his retirement. However, his retirement was short-lived and he recently returned during a Cage Warriors card on July 12, where he knocked out Bojan Kosednar at 4:53 of round 1.

The UFC has announced that former IFL middleweight champion Matt Horwich will make his debut with the promotion at UFC 90 on Oct. 25 vs. jiu-jitsu black belt Ricardo Almeida.

Horwich, a member of Matt Lindland’s Team Quest in Portland, Ore., is 23-10-1 overall in his MMA career. He posted a 7-4 record in the IFL with notable victories over Mike Pyle, Brian Foster, and Benji Radach.

With his win over Radach this past December during the league’s World Grand Prix finals, Horwich became the IFL’s first-ever middleweight champion. However, Horwich lost the title to Ryan McGivern in his first-ever defense this past February in Las Vegas.

The 30-year old last competed during the IFL’s last-ever show on May 16 in Connecticut, where he recorded a unanimous decision victory over former training partner Joey Guel.

Horwich is the latest in a long line of former IFL fighters to enlist with the UFC, a list that includes Rory Markham, Andre Gusmao, Brad Blackburn, Jim Miller, Dan Miller, Mike Massenzio, and Reese Andy.

Horwich’s opponent, Almeida, is 9-3 overall in an MMA career that dates back to 2000. A black belt under the legendary Renzo Gracie, Almeida operates his own school in New Jersey and has an extensive background as a competitive grappler.

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The Palace Fighting Championships have announced that the “New York Bad Ass” Phil Baroni will be fighting on the promotion’s Sept. 26 show in Lemoore, Calif.

Baroni, expected to compete at welterweight, is scheduled to face former WEC veteran Olaf Alfonso during the promotion’s Palace Fighting Championships 10 show.

The former UFC middleweight is now 2-0 after losing via first round TKO on primetime network television against Joey Villasenor during CBS’ first-ever MMA telecast on May 31.

Soon after the loss to Villasenor, Baroni announced his intention to move from middleweight to welterweight. He made his 170 pound debut while competing for ProElite-owned Cage Rage on July 12, where he knocked out Scott Jansen at 3:18 of round 1.

He would fight again less than a month later, this time for ProElite-owned ICON Sport on August 2 in a 175 pound fight against Ron Verdadero. Baroni TKO’d Verdadero at 0:51 of round 1 in what some in attendance claimed to have been a premature stoppage.

Alfonso is 7-8, according to Sherdog’s fight finder. The former PRIDE Bushido veteran has won two consecutive fights after having lost six in a row.

The event is also advertising the MMA debut of Chad Mendes, who recently signed a six-fight deal with the PFC. Mendes was a runner-up in this year’s NCAA tournament and now a member of Urijah Faber’s Ultimate Fitness gym in Sacramento. Like Faber, he also competes as a featherweight.

PFC 10 is also slated to feature a lightweight title defense by PFC champion Brian Cobb, who will be taking on Lance Wipf. Also scheduled to fight are WEC bantamweights Antonio Banuelos, Charlie Valencia, and Del Hawkins.

Sherdog.com is reporting that Jeff Curran announced this past weekend during the opening of a new school in Crystal Lake, Ill. that one of his Team Curran member and lightweight competitor Bart Palaszewski has signed a six-fight contract with the World Extreme Cagefighting organization.

Palaszewski had been a staple of the International Fight League’s 155 pound division before it closed operations in recent months. Compiling a 8-4 record in the IFL, Palaszewski was perhaps best known for his rivalry with Chris Horodecki. Despite going 0-2 head-to-head against Horodecki, Palaszewski fought him tough both occasions, losing via split decision in each fight.

Palaszewski had been in the midst of a three-fight losing streak before recording a second round TKO over former UFC fighter Jeff Cox during Adrenaline MMA’s inaugural show on June 14. Now on a winning track, Palaszewki is excited about the prospect of competing in the WEC.

“I think I match up very well with a lot of guys in the WEC; they’ve got a lot of strikers and I think I’m going to put on some phenomenal wars,” Palaszewski is quoted as saying by Sherdog. “If I get two really good shows, really good fights against ranked opponents, I think I’ll be able to get a title shot.”

The WEC lightweight division is anchored by champion Jamie Varner and includes contenders such as former champion “Razor” Rob McCullough, Richard Crunkilton, Alex Karalexis, Marcus Hicks, Ed Ratcliff, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, and Shane Roller.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com has learned through a source speaking on the condition of anonymity that UFC veterans David “The Crow” Loiseau and Solomon Hutcherson will square off in the main event at XMMA 5: “It’s Crow Time”.

Loiseau, a native of Montreal, Quebec, possesses a mixed martial arts record of 17-8-0. Since his release from the UFC and EliteXC, Loiseau has gone 3-1 with victories over Freddie Espiricueta, Todd Gouwenberg, and Andrew Buckland.

Hutcherson, a native of Racine, Wisconsin, possesses a mixed martial arts record of 10-4. Hutcherson appeared on “The Ultimate Fighter 3″ and fought on the TUF 3 Finale losing to Luigi Fioravanti. Since leaving the UFC, Hutcherson has gone 4-0 stopping Anthony Trotter, Nabil Khatib, George Allen, and Marcus Hicks.

As we reported earlier, XMMA 5: “It’s Crow Time” is scheduled for September 13th and will feature notable names such as Steve Claveau, Aaron Riley, Gustavo Machado, and Guillaume de Lorenzi.